Martyrs, Militants, Monetizers, and Madmen (w/ Crackpot History)

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with the host of Crackpot History Podcast about critiques of historical narratives and sourcing practices.

In this newest installment of History Impossible, we’re privileged to be joined by the host of the Crackpot History Podcast , which began life just over a year ago by doing a detailed, long-running critique of the Martyr Made Podcast’s inaugural series, “Fear and Loathing in the New Jerusalem.” As many of you know, I have frequently recommended that series, and to some extent I still do, but now with many more reservations and qualifications that have been clarified thanks to the work of Crackpot History’s psuedonymous host . The conversation does indeed focus on the shortcomings of “Fear and Loathing” in terms of its research and some of the questionable claims made in that series, but it widens to include Crackpot History’s next project, which is a critique of Scott Horton’s book Provoked. In addition to that, we discuss the importance of accurate and effective sourcing, including the perils of over-sourcing and selective sourcing, both of which seem to be problems in the history creation space. We also discussed the potential motivation behind such practices and ultimately, the potential for peer review in historical podcasting and content creation. It was a very productive…

People in this episode

Host: Alexander von Sternberg

Guest: Crackpot History

Topics covered

• podcast critique
• historical sourcing
• peer review
• media analysis
• true crime

Keywords

• podcast
• history
• critique
• sourcing
• peer review
• true crime
• media

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Fear and Loathing in the New Jerusalem, Provoked

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